1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to wireless terminals, such as mobile telephones, and more particularly to a method and a device for controlling amplification of the signal emitted by a mobile terminal and reducing the power drawn from the power supply battery of the terminal.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Mobile telephones include a power amplifier in order to be able to transmit a signal of sufficient power during calls.
To send and receive calls, each telephone must be connected continuously to a fixed terminal. The greater the distance from the telephone to the fixed terminal, the higher the power required.
According to the specifications of the Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), a terminal operating on the GSM network must be able to transmit a maximum power of 33 dBm. The maximum power can be reduced to 30.5 dBm in the event of extreme conditions, i.e. if the battery voltage is low.
Thus if the telephone is very far away from the fixed terminal to which it is connected, the latter will cause the telephone to transmit at maximum power in order to ensure correct operation.
However, the higher the required transmitted power, the greater the amplification required in the terminal, and therefore the greater the load on the battery of the terminal. This leads to high power consumption from the battery and therefore a significant reduction in the autonomy of the telephone.
Against this background, an object of the present invention is to alleviate the above drawback by proposing a method and a device for amplifying a signal emitted by a mobile terminal and which reduce the power drawn from the battery of the terminal.